Glen Ellyn residents who fought a proposed apartment complex on the village's southeast side five years ago will get their reward this fall when a 36-hole miniature golf course opens on the site of the defunct Maryknoll Seminary. And that's just the start of plans for Maryknoll Park, the 26-acre site at Roosevelt Road and Illinois Highway 53, said Park District Supt. Dave Scarmardo. "We want to turn the property into a family-friendly recreation center that will offer something for everyone and still...

Bard of the `burbs Shakespeare's spirit is alive in the suburbs these midsummer days, due to the efforts of Actors Center of Du Page. Shakespearean actors, including strolling minstrels and a fool, will entertain Glen Ellyn's 4th of July paradegoers. The troupe will then go forth on the 5th with its preview of "Twelfth Night," which continues every Thursday through Sunday until July 22 (phone 530-4803 for ticket information). Patrons will probably be...

Rev. Carl Meulemanshas a fairly vivid memory of the afternoon in 1952 when the Maryknoll Brothers sealed a time capsule into the cornerstone of their new seminary in Glen Ellyn. "I remember them planting it. I was a student at the time," Meulemans said. "They made an afternoon of it." But Meulemans, now director of the missionary order's house on Chicago's South Side, has a sketchy memory of what went into the capsule. "Something about space, and something about...

Glen Ellyn Park District officials continue to look for ways to buy the Maryknoll Seminary property after voters in November turned down a referendum proposal to fund its purchase. Officials plan to ask Forest Preserve District commissioners to consider buying the property in a partnership. "If they put in $2 million and we put in $2 million, and the village agrees to tear down the buildings, we could at least take the property off the market," said Cory Atwell, Park District executive...

A federal bankruptcy judge is set to make a decision Wednesday that could finally begin resolving the future of the shuttered Maryknoll Seminary property in Glen Ellyn. Despite the pending legal conclusion, talks have occurred behind closed doors between the developer, who has a deal to buy the land to build housing on the 25 acres at Illinois Highway 53 and Roosevelt Road, and the Glen Ellyn Park District, which wants to turn the land into a park. Todd Fishbein, president of the...

Glen Ellyn Park District commissioners, anticipating a chance to buy the Maryknoll Seminary property, have decided to ask voters April 13 to approve issuing $3.5 million in bonds. Of that, $2 million would be earmarked to pay one-third of a $6 million estimated asking price for Maryknoll. The Park District has discussed a partnership to buy the land with the Village of Glen Ellyn and the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. "They've been supportive of the idea," said Jeanne Jezuit,...

A federal bankruptcy judge on Monday postponed until at least next week a decision on the future of the shuttered Maryknoll Seminary in Glen Ellyn. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Ronald Barliant is expected to decide whether to approve the sale for either a residential development or a public park. The owners of the property want to sell it for $5.8 million to Northbrook-based Red Seal Development Corp., which plans to build single-family homes or town homes there. The Glen Ellyn Park District...

A federal bankruptcy judge on Monday postponed until at least next week a decision on the future of the shuttered Maryknoll Seminary in Glen Ellyn. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Ronald Barliant is expected to decide whether to approve the sale for either a residential development or a public park. The owners of the property want to sell it for $5.8 million to Northbrook-based Red Seal Development Corp., which plans to build single-family homes or town homes there. The Glen Ellyn Park District...

On the same day the Glen Ellyn Park District moved to advance its plans to turn the shuttered Maryknoll Seminary property into a park, the property's owners disclosed they had a deal to sell it to a major developer. In a move that raises more questions about the future of the old seminary site, the attorney representing property owner Maryknoll Restoration Inc. and its owner, Jean Herbert, told a federal bankruptcy judge they have a deal to sell the land for $5.8 million to Northbrook-based...

Rev. Raymond A. Hill, head of U.S. operations for the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, died Saturday in the Maryknoll St. Teresa's Residence in Ossining, N.Y. He was 66 and lived at the residence. He died of cancer, officials of the order said. Rev. Hill was superior general of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, the formal name of the Maryknoll society, from 1972 to 1978. Under him the group developed a program to train professional lay workers for missionary work and...

Moving forward with plans to turn the old Maryknoll Seminary property in Glen Ellyn into a large park, the DuPage County Forest Preserve Commission has agreed to begin negotiating to buy some land on the property, despite opposition from a commissioner who serves the area and from the preserve's staff. In a 20-1 vote, the commission authorized talks with the Glen Ellyn Park District about buying the 25 acres at Illinois Highway 53 and Roosevelt Road, which holds a once-majestic, 10,000-square-foot seminary that...

Moving forward with plans to turn the old Maryknoll Seminary property in Glen Ellyn into a large park, the DuPage County Forest Preserve Commission on Tuesday agreed to begin negotiating to buy some land on the property, despite opposition from a commissioner who serves the area and from the preserve's staff. In a 20-1 vote, the commission authorized talks with the Glen Ellyn Park District about buying the 25 acres at Illinois Highway 53 and Roosevelt Road, which holds a once-majestic,...

DuPage County forest preserve commissioners on Tuesday put off a vote on spending up to $1 million to help buy the Maryknoll Seminary property in Glen Ellyn because attorneys for the Forest Preserve District and Glen Ellyn Park District have not had final discussions on the matter. Commissioner Michael Formento (R-Glen Ellyn), who has led the move to help buy the land, said lawyers must finish discussions about what will be included in an agreement between the two bodies, including...